Fifth edition of the BPL to commence from November 2

Bangladesh Premier League is set to begin on November 2 this year. During a press conference, BPL’s governing body confirmed the fixtures of the event. This will be the fifth season of Bangladesh’s franchise-style T20 league. This edition will be bigger and better as eight teams will participate in the mega event as compared to 7 last season.

Dhaka Dynamites are the defending champions, a side led by Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan. They beat Rajshahi Kings by 56 runs in a one-sided final held at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur last year. Dhaka was the best team on show as they topped the tables by winning 8 games out of 12.

Mustafizur Rahman to be the 8th icon cricketer

The BPL governing committee had to pick an icon for the new entrant eighth. Star left-arm fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman has been named as the icon for the eighth team. He joins an elite list of icon cricketers which include Shakib Al Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Sabbir Rahman and Soumya Sarkar.

A total of 60 games will be played this year as compared to 46 last year. Dhaka Dynamites will play the first game of the season at the Shere Bangla Stadium in Mirpur. The number of foreign players allowed to take part in each game has been increased to 5 per team. Last season, a maximum of 4 foreign players were allowed to take the field, which is a norm in the various T20 leagues going around the world.

Impact of BPL on Bangladesh cricket

BPL has enjoyed enormous success in a cricket frenzy country Bangladesh. It has given their cricketers a lot of exposure, which has helped their national team grow further. Only recently, Bangladesh qualified for the semifinals of the ICC Champions Trophy for the first time in their history. They played in the event after a hiatus of 11 years as they were never in the top eight ranked teams, which is a rule for qualification for the 8-team tournament.